Japan Gold Corp. provided an update on the progress of the Barrick Alliance following the 6-month extension to its Initial Evaluation Phase in February 2022. Thorough field and data reviews were completed by senior Barrick and Japan Gold personnel from May to July this year across identified areas of high-prospectivity within the 29 project Barrick Alliance portfolio.

These comprehensive reviews will allow Barrick to decide on projects that meet their criteria for advancement to the Second Evaluation Phase by August 31, 2022. As part of the Barrick Alliance agreement, Barrick agreed to sole fund a 2-year Initial Evaluation Phase of all 29 projects and sole fund a subsequent 3-year Second Evaluation Phase on projects which meet their criteria. In February 2022, Barrick requested a 6-month extension to the two-year Initial Evaluation Phase to August 31st due to delays and travel restrictions caused by the global Covid pandemic.

Barrick's criteria for project advancement requires the potential for a project to host either a Tier 1 or Tier 2 ore body. Tier 1 projects are defined by Barrick as having 5 million ounce or greater potential with annual production of at least 500,000 ounces of gold for 10 years, Tier 2 projects have 3 million ounce or greater potential with annual production of 300,000 ounces of gold for 10 years. Following Barrick's decisions, Japan Gold will continue to provide full support and management of the Alliance Second Phase Evaluation programs.